Uncertainty
by vindictive-much
Summary: A sequel to School Boy Crush, but can be read seperately. Takes place two years into the future. Marc finds out about Justin's feelings for him, and he has a little trouble finding the right way to handle the situation. Light Marc/Justin.


**Uncertainty**

Summary: A sequel to School Boy Crush, but can be read seperately. Takes place two years into the future. Marc finds out about Justin's feelings for him, and he has a little trouble finding the right way to handle the situation. Light Marc/Justin.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ugly Betty or any of its characters.

XxX

He guessed a part of him always knew, but his concious mind wouldn't let him acknowledge it. The truth was staring him right in the face and he didn't even see it, and now that he did, what was he supposed to do? Marc had never been in this kind of situation before. It was just minutes ago that it was confirmed that Justin had a crush on Marc, and the boy ran off before the man had a chance to say anything. Although it wasn't like Marc would know what to say.

Justin was now fifteen years-old, and it was common for teenagers to develop crushes on authority figures. Justin's feelings were nothing to be embarrassed about. Marc himself had a crush on his art teacher in high school, but he got over that and he was sure Justin would get over this infatuation with him. He just hoped that he could handle this without hurting the boy's feelings. In the past couple of years, Marc and Justin had become friends, and Marc didn't want to lose that friendship over something as trivial as a silly little crush.

At least he hoped it was just a crush.

Marc walked into the men's room. He had a feeling Justin was hiding in one of the stalls, and that feeling was proven true when Marc heard sniffling coming from one of the stalls on the far side of the room. Marc went over and knocked on the door, "Justin, are you in there?" he asked.

"Go away," came the boy's whimpered reply.

"Justin, what's wrong?" Marc asked. He hoped that he hadn't done something to make Justin cry.

"You know what's wrong," Justin answered, "I acted like a complete brat about the fact that you have a boyfriend, and I'm sorry, but... forget it, you wouldn't understand."

"Justin... these feelings you have are perfectly natural," Marc said, trying not to sound like he was patronizing the boy. He knew how much Justin hated that, "I understand what you're going through."

Inside the stall, Justin rolled his eyes, _"Oh great, he's trying to spare my feelings. I'm not a little kid, he can just tell me 'no,'"_ Justin thought. He stood up and opened the stall, shooting Marc an annoyed look.

"Do you honestly think you understand what I'm going through?" Justin asked.

"Yes," Marc answered, "Justin, when I was your age I had a crush on my art teacher, but he was straight, my teacher, thirty-one, and not to mention married. I got over it, and you'll get over this too."

"You see? You don't get it," Justin said, about to walk away from Marc when the man grabbed his hand.

"What don't I get, Justin?" Marc asked.

"This isn't a crush," Justin answered.

For a moment Marc didn't understand, but then the meaning of Justin's words sunk in.

"You think you're in love with me?" Marc asked, then his vainity kicked in and he thought, _"It was bound to happen. Who could resist me?"_ But still... love? He'd been freaked out, and still was, when Cliff told him he loved him, and now that this young boy apparently felt that way about him he thought that maybe Justin was crazy. For some reason Marc was scared of the L word.

"I don't think I am, Marc," Justin said, "I know I am."

"Justin, you're not in love with me," Marc said, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder, "you're fifteen and you don't know the difference between love and infatuation."

Justin pushed Marc's hand away, "I knew you would say that. I sould have just kept my mouth shut," Justin said quietly. The anger was gone, replaced by helplessness and humiliation.

Marc was at a loss for words. He wanted to be sensitive to the boy's feelings, but he didn't want to lead him on and possibly cause him even more hurt. To be honest, Marc would be lying if he said he didn't think Justin was attractive, or easy to have a conversation with, and of course they did have a lot of things in common. That didn't mean that Marc was interested in Justin. He just... thought he might be if Justin was old enough. Besides, even if he was, Marc still had Cliff, and there was still the fourteen year age difference.

"Justin, I want you to listen very carefully to what I'm about to say," Marc said. What he was about to say was cliche and cheesy, but it was his only hope, "you are a wonderful boy, and any guy would be lucky to have you, but that guy isn't me. You'll find someone, someone your own age, and you'll be happy. And this doesn't change anything. We'll always be friends," Marc looked into Justin's eyes, desperate for any sort of positive response.

"I won't," Justin said flatly, "the boys at my school beat me up, and the ones that don't are scared of me because I'm gay," it was an all too familiar scenerio for Marc, and he sympathized with Justin about that. The longer he stared into those brown eyes, the more hopeless Marc felt about trying to deter the interest of a young boy, who clearly had strong, genuine feelings for him.

Marc almost pulled away when Justin's arms went around his waist in a tight hug. Marc awkwardly returned the embrace, but wondered if that was a bad idea too.

"Please just promise me that this doesn't change anything, Marc," Justin begged, looking up at the man, "you're a good friend to me, and I don't want to lose you over this," Marc couldn't believe how heart-wrenchingly overjoyed those words made him, knowing that he meant that much to Justin.

"Justin, this doesn't change anything," Marc said, hesitantly hugging Justin tighter, "I can promise you that much."

"That's all I need to hear," Justin said, a fraction of a smile forming on his lips. He would not drop this, but for now he was just glad that he hadn't screwed up things between him and Marc.

As Marc looked down at the boy, he felt an uncertainty about the future between the two of them. Things with Cliff had been on edge lately, and if Justin didn't find a way to get over him who knew just how far things would go. If Justin was still only an aquaintance, things would be simpler, but instead this boy was Marc's friend, and his friend was supposedly in love with him. Marc even feared that in time he'd develop feelings for Justin. Marc wasn't sure if he could control himself for two years.

If anything ever was to happen between them, Marc knew it wouldn't be able to happen until Justin was old enough; and if Marc's heart did betray him, all he could do was hope for the best.


End file.
